


Give a Heart a Break

by Tabbyluna



Series: Fictober 2020 [19]
Category: Skylanders (Video Games)
Genre: Break Up, Gen, Sad, talking about love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbyluna/pseuds/Tabbyluna
Summary: When he fell for Gearshift, his first love as a teenager, and all the partners in-between that, it was all hard and fast. He sank into bliss like a stone thrown into a river. It was such a thrilling feeling, scary but exciting, like being on a rollercoaster. Catching feelings always took him by surprise. He always looked forward to it in the past. But after this particular breakup, he wasn’t sure if he would ever be ready for the thrill ever again.
Series: Fictober 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947136





	Give a Heart a Break

**Author's Note:**

> Oof. Didn't post this up yesterday. To be fair, yesterday was a hell of a day. Here it is now, in any case.

“I’m sorry Spy Rise, but I can’t do this anymore,” said Gearshift, and Spy Rise knew exactly what was coming up next. “We need to break up.”

They had been going out for at least a year, and they started out so passionate. The first few months were all filled with tender kisses, whispered sweet nothing, and loving embraces. But then the passion mellowed out into comfort, and comfort grew into apathy. They started spending less and less time with each other. Some days they didn’t even talk. They tried a few times to bring back the passion. Going on dates, all sorts of new experiences together. But every time they tried their feelings of love would only last a couple of days, and then would disappear.

And he knew that even though deep down, he wanted her, they needed to let this end. 

It wasn’t easy though. And what was worse was that compared to him, it seemed like Gearshift was able to move on so easily. When she met him in the hallways, she could always greet him with a smile and a few sweet words. As if there was never anything between them.

“I’m so glad we decided to be friends, Spy Rise. I really do think we’re much better off like this, don’t you?” He didn’t think so. But he agreed because she did legitimately seem much happier now.

Was it something wrong with him? It happened all the time, with all his relationships. From his first attempt at courting someone as a teenager, to this most recent break-up. What could it be? Was it just a problem with his personality? His appearance? 

He wondered if it was just a matter of genetics. If the inability to keep a lover ran in the family. His mother divorced his father when he was a child because he was, quote, ‘distant, aloof, always in the house but never at home’. And any attempt at getting a girlfriend always failed. As a child, Spy Rise met a revolving door of potential stepmothers, but none of them ever graduated to that position. They remained his father’s lovers for a short amount of time, before disappearing from their lives forever.

He knew that part of the reason was because - to quote one of his girlfriends before she stormed out of their house in anger - he was hopelessly married to his job. No matter what might come up in his life, his first priority was always his duty and responsibility as a private investigator. Spy Rise always respected his father for that. When he was a child, he wanted to be exactly like that when he grew up

But as an adult, he feared that he had become exactly like his father in that regard. Would he permanently be hopeless in relationships because of it? Because of his genetics, his formative influences, his childhood hero?

When he was a boy, Spy Rise chose to live with his father when they divorced. That decision was made partially because he thought that without him around, his father would be terribly lonely. His mother did always praise him for being a perceptive, empathetic kid. But now, he wondered if things would have been different, if he would have turned out different, if only he had chosen to go and live with his mother. He received tons of letters from his mother when he was younger. How she moved around Skylands. Remarried a lovely pilot. She wanted to come and introduce him to his new step-father someday. Even though she never did, he at least knew that she could find a partner and keep one. The problem in the relationship was never with her…

Could he have learned how to do that, if only he had grown up with her instead of with his father?

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to distract himself. Bury himself in his work, stop caring about others, potential partners. But that would only be avoiding his problem, wouldn’t it? Deep down, he knew he found it important to find a partner. He really did want one. And by avoiding his wants, he would only be making the problem worse.

But how does one get the guts to talk to another person, after recognising a pattern like this? How does one keep a relationship? Why do some people have it so easy, while others like him were forced to struggle, be lonely, try and try and fail again and again.

He stayed sleepless many nights thinking about it. But he never really shared his thoughts on that with anyone else. For the most part, he simply continued. Working, helping to save Skylands, still without a partner. Still feeling as lonely as can be in his heart.

Spy Rise wondered if he would catch feelings again. 

When he fell for Gearshift, his first love as a teenager, and all the partners in-between that, it was all hard and fast. He sank into bliss like a stone thrown into a river. It was such a thrilling feeling, scary but exciting, like being on a rollercoaster. Catching feelings always took him by surprise. He always looked forward to it in the past. But after this particular breakup, he wasn’t sure if he would ever be ready for the thrill ever again. Maybe it was because he was friends with Gearshift before they started going out. And because they were friends at first, he expected results to be different. But for some reason, that one hurt really badly in particular. And now, the mere thought of the thrill scared him.

But he didn’t know what to do about it.

A week passed. And then a month. A couple of months. He supposed that in that time, his heart had healed up somewhat, but he never bothered to test that. Instead, he had spent that time throwing himself in his work. Just like his father did before him. It was probably not the best course of action if he did have plans to someday get a lover. But it was, at the moment, probably what his heart needed the most.

**Author's Note:**

> This month is just constant genre roulette, I swear.


End file.
